Sentencing In Criminal Courts

After a defendant is convicted or pleads guilty, a judge will then decide a suitable punishment (or sentence) during the sentencing phase of a criminal case. There are varying outcomes that can influence sentencing offenders, they can range from probation and community service to prison and even the death penalty. Minor infractions, misdemeanors, or offenders who plead guilty usually get sentenced almost immediately after ones convictions. In complex criminal cases such as serious felonies, the sentencing judge will usually receive input from the probation department which prepares a pre-sentence report with recommendations. Prosecutors and the defense will also speak to the judge regarding to ones convictions. There are several factors that a judge can choose from when determining a criminal sentence. These include: Does the offender have prior criminal history; Was the offender an accessory or the main offender; Was the offender under any personal stress or duress when the crime was committed; Was anyone injured; Was the offender cruel to a victim, or destructive in nature, did the offender display remorse or regret for crimes. However, not every conviction means a trip to prison. Judges in most cases have a great deal of discretion when determining a sentence. Some of these alternative sentences can include suspended sentences, community service, probation, deferred adjudication, and even fines or restitution. Furthermore, multiple sentences can be served

The nation’s sentencing model consists of three general types of sentences. These three different types are determinate, indeterminate, and

Once an individual has been found guilty of a crime, sentencing will take place within thirty to sixty days. The sentencing hearing is set far enough in advance that a presentence investigation can be held by the probation department (Aberle, 2014). During the presentencing investigation the probation department will assign members to look at the defendant’s prior criminal history, military history, work history, summary of the charges including mitigating and aggravating circumstances, and statements from the victim or victim’s family (Aberle, 2014). All information is gathered and a report is written providing a recommendation to the judge of what sentence should be imposed. Sentencing can be handled in several different ways including jail time, prison time, probation, fines, or any combination of the aforementioned (Aberle, 2014).

A recently released study indicates that the state of New Jersey is currently incarcerating 31% less people than its peak prison population.

Sentencing bias occurs in most of the court cases in the United States of America. Sentencing bias can include races such as Hispanic/Latino, Asian Americans, White Americans, and Native Americans. This brings us to talk about sentencing disparities? In which a court case trial is not treated the same or it is treated differently than other cases. However, who faces the most disparities in sentencing? Could it be African American’s who face’s the most trends and Asian American’s the least trends in sentencing disparities? Or could it be Hispanic/Latino’s who are the least victims of sentencing disparities? Many authors have studied the trends of sentencing disparities, and they have encountered many findings. Many of these findings were found by researching case studies. Criminologists and researchers looked at misdemeanor cases, felony cases, and as well as simple traffic violations. Sentencing occurs in even the smallest traffic violation, because the offender of the ticket still has to attend court to fight to ticket.

Punishments for an individual’s criminal actions, such as the possession of illicit drugs, have been in place for centuries. However, many people wonder why certain punishments are more severe than others and how a judge makes the final decision of what a sentence may be. In Federal Courts, a sentencing guideline is determined by the individual’s criminal history, severity of the crime, and mitigating factors.1

BATH, N.Y. (WENY) -- After more than an hour of impact statements, Thomas Clayton learned his fate. Clayton will spend the rest of his life in prison for hiring Michael Beard to kill his wife Kelley back in 2015.

the five sentencing philosophies are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and restoration. Number one, Retribution. This is the act of taking revenge on criminal perpetrator. If an offender breaks the law he or she should be punished based on perceived need of vengeance. Two, Retribution. This corresponds to the principle model of sentencing of "just desert." It punishes based on the severity of the crime committed. The third philosophy is Incapacitation. The major goal is to provide protection for innocent members of society from offenders who might harm them. Incapacitation guarantees that offenders will not be a further threat to societies safety. Deterrence overall goal is to provide crime prevention and punishing a person

When America changed the sentencing policies for crimes, primarily drug crimes, in America, the effect this change would have in the poor communities were impossible to imagine. The policies which were changed to get tougher on drug crimes on the federal level followed with mass incarceration in the prison system. This was especially true with young African American males in largely poor communities. So these policies not only created a mass incarceration but also racially targeted certain race in America. These procedures which were created to protect the community and the streets actually did nothing but drive a wedge in the relationships between those same communities, law enforcement, and policy makers.

 Punishment has been a subject of deliberate among philosophers, political leaders, and lawyers for centuries. Various theories of punishment have been developed, each of which attempts to justify the practice in some form and to state its proper objectives. The quantity and severity of punishments were reduced, the prison system have been improved. According to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, Maryland, some of the major reasons for punishment are to reform, deterrence, rehabilitation, compensation, and retribution. Punishment for reform is intended to benefit the offender and society by changing the

Once the criminals are tried and convicted of a crime, they have options in regards to their sentencing. In fact, they can sometimes shorten or even possibly get released. How does one do this? Convicted individuals can get acquitted through the process of appeals. An appeal is the process of requesting a higher court to review the lower court’s decision on a case that has been tried; this is done in the hopes that the higher court will change the sentencing of the defendant (Gaines & Miller, 2015, p. 178). That being said, the process of an appeal is only eligible for the defiance, not for the prosecution (Gaines & Miller, 2015, p. 178). Appeals are an outstanding tool, especially when it comes to the wrongful conviction of the defendant.

Sentencing is a complicated, and sometimes extremely harsh set of rules. It has very deterrence, and retribution based set of rules for the most part. Which is indicative of the society we as americans live in. Through this paper i will explain each type of sentencing guideline. They are Intermediate, Determinate, Mandatory, Concurrent, and consecutive. Also we will talk about how in some states mandatory guidelines actually can lower the total prison population. But how in states that are not resource drive, incapacitation is on the rise. Finally i will convey my thoughts on sentencing. How it is a flawed and ,mostly broken system.

Information about the three main areas of sentencing are presented in chapter three of the text book. The first area includes the many purposes of sentences, or punishments. These purposes are as follows: 1. Revenge—i.e. An offender robbed the community of its sense of security by stealing cars.

Circles were found by the Native American cultures of the United States and Canada. These circles are used for many purposes. In the 1980s, the criminal justice system adapted and developed as the people of a first nation. Local justice officials had attempted to start building closer ties with the community and formal justice system. Going into 1991, Judge Barry introduced the “sentencing circle.” The sentencing circle means that the justice process will be shared with the community. The best-known sentencing circles were called the “Hollow Water First Nations Community Holistic Healing Circle.” The members of the community would gather around to deal with a high level of alcoholism. These circles represented a safe zone. Many had begun to

Punishment is passed by the court for offence committed by the offender. Court passes a sentence based on the argument carried on by the prosecutor and defended along with the evidence presented before the court. How far these four principles are helpful in sentencing process are retributive, deterrent, reformative, expiatory and preventive.